COLUMBIA - The Columbia Board of Health subcommittee had a meeting Thursday evening leading a talk about fluoridation of the city's water supply.

The subcommittee is making a recommendation to the city council whether to continue the current level of fluoride in city water at 0.7 parts per million.

Lori Henderson, a 30-year pediatric dentist in Columbia, said the current fluoridation level is safe. Henderson gave the recent dental health assessment data at the meeting. The optimal water fluoridation level is 0.7 to 1.2 ppm, according to the U.S. Public Health Service.

One citizen, Max Bolden, is concerned that water fluoridation could affect people's physical health because some countries in Europe don't use fluoridation from his perspective.

"I know water fluoridation is safe," Henderson said. "Many of the websites and national spokespersons against water fluoridation cite studies and information from other countries. It's not an equal comparison. Europe, for instance, doesn't fluoridate water because of the complexity of their water system."